This past June I spent two weeks on a natural history trip with GreenTours Natural History Holidays. One of the highlights of the trip was the great number of butterflies. Below are links to a Flicker slideshow and collection of butterflies I photographed. Click Read more to see a list of Butterflies seen on the trip compiled by Phil Benstead, one of the trip leaders.
Butterflies of the Pyrenees Slideshow best viewed full screen by clicking on box in bottom right corner. You can click show titles under options at the top left of the screen.
Butterflies of the Pyrenees collection of Butterfly photos in Flickr. (same photos as in slideshow above)
Butterflies
The taxonomic nomenclature and the systematic order have been taken from Tolman and Lewington’s Butterflies of Britain and Europe published by Harper Collins (1997). An indication of abundance is give by the number of days on which a species was seen.
Papilionidae |
||
Swallowtail |
Papilio machaon | One at Rioumajou and a one at Ossoue valley. |
| Scarce swallowtail | A few in Spain. | |
| Apollo | Parnassius apollo | Canigou. |
| Clouded apollo | Parnassius mnemosyne | Single atVal d’Eyne. Several in the small meadow en route to the reservoir at Neouvielle |
Pieridae |
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| Large white | Pieris brassicae | Widespread and common. |
| Black-veined white | Aporia crataegi | Locally very common. |
| Small white | Artogeia rapae | Widespread. |
| Green-veined white | Artogeia napi | Recorded. |
| Bath white | Pontia daplidice | Tremp. |
| Orange-tip | Anthocharis cardamines | Widespread in small numbers. |
| Moroccan orange-tip | Anthocharis belia | A few in Spain. |
| Clouded yellow | Colias crocea | Widespread. |
| Berger’s clouded yellow | Colias australis | A few. |
| Brimstone | Gonepteryx rhamni | Gavarnie. |
| Cleopatra | Gonepteryx cleopatra | Congost de Collegats. |
| Wood white | Leptidea sinapsis | A few. |
Lycaenidae |
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| Sloe hairstreak | Satyrium acaciae | Tremp. |
| Ilex hairstreak | Satyrium ilicis | Tremp and Salas. |
| False ilex hairstreak | Satyrium esculi | Tremp and Salas. |
| Blue-spot hairstreak | Satyrium spini | Salas and Tremp. |
| Green hairstreak | Callophrys rubi | Aigues-Tortes NP. |
| Small copper | Lycaena phlaeas | Recorded. |
| Purple-edged copper | Lycaena hippothoe | Garin. |
| Long-tailed blue | Lampides boeticus | A few. |
| Little blue | Cupido minimus | Widespread. |
| Holly blue | Celastrina argiolus | On one date. |
| Idas blue | Lycaeides idas | Col de Perves. |
| Geranium argus | Eumedonia eumedon | Day 2. |
| Brown argus | Aricia agestis | Col de Perves. |
| Mazarine blue | Cyaniris semiargus | Widespread. |
| Amanda’s blue | Agrodiaetus amanda | Widespread. |
| Adonis blue | Lysandra bellargus | Mostly in France. |
| Common blue | Polyommatus icarus | Widespread and common. |
| Riodinidae | ||
| Duke-of-Burgundy | Hamearis lucina | Val d’Eyne. |
| Nymphalidae | ||
| Southern white admiral | Limenitis reducta | Scattered. |
| Red admiral | Vanessa atalanta | Recorded. |
| Painted lady | Cynthia cardui | Recorded in small numbers. |
| Small tortoiseshell | Aglais urticae | Scattered. |
| Comma | Polygonia c-album | Riomajou. |
| Dark green fritillary | Argynnis aglaja | |
| Pearl-bordered fritillary | Clossiana euphrosyne | Frequently encountered in suitable montane wooded areas. |
| Glanville fritillary | Melitaea cinxia | A few. |
| Knapweed fritillary | Melitaea phoebe | Canigou. |
| False heath fritillary | Melitaea diamina | Riomajou and Ossoue valley. |
| Heath fritillary | Mellicta athalia | Widespread. |
Satyridae |
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| Iberian marbled white | Melanargia lachesis | Salas. |
| Great banded grayling | Kanetisa circe | Salas and Tremp. |
| Mountain ringlet | Erebia epiphron | Vielha and Gavarnie. |
| de Prunner’s ringlet | Erebia triaria | Vielha and Gavarnie. |
| Bright-eyed ringlet | Erebia oeme | Garin. |
| Piedmont ringlet | Erebia meolans | Recorded. |
| Meadow brown | Maniola jurtina | Only at Canigou. |
| Spanish gatekeeper | Pyronia bathseba | Tremp. |
| Small heath | Coenonympha pamphilus | Scattered records. |
| Pearly heath | Coenonympha arcania | Scattered records. |
| Speckled wood | Pararge aegeria | Scattered records. |
| Wall brown | Lasiommata megera | Scattered records. |
| Large wall brown | Lasiommata maera | Occasional records. |
Hesperiidae |
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| Large grizzled skipper | Pyrgus alveus | Occasional records, esp Gavarnie. |
| Grizzled skipper | Pyrgus malvae | Canigou. |
| Olive skipper | Pyrgus serratulae | Val d’Eyne. |
| Tufted marbled skipper | Carcharodes flocciferus | Val d’Eyne. |
| Dingy skipper | Erynnis tages | Widespread. |
| Large skipper | Ochlodes venatus | Scattered. |
| Pigmy skipper | Gegenes pumilio | Tremp. |
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